SpaceX Launches Robotic Cargo Mission to Space Station

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SpaceX launched a robotic capsule into orbit today (April 18),
kicking off the company's third contracted cargo mission to the
International Space Station for NASA, along with an ambitious
rocket reusability test.

The Falcon 9's work wasn't done after delivering Dragon to orbit.
SpaceX also aimed to return the rocket's first stage softly to
Earth, to help develop and demonstrate reusable-rocket
technology, which company representatives say could dramatically
reduce the cost of spaceflight in the future. [ Liftoff!
SpaceX Dragon Capsule Soars Toward Space Station (Video) ]

The first stage is equipped with four 25-foot-long (7.6 meters)
landing legs to help steady its descent toward the ocean, where
SpaceX hopes
to retrieve it by boat.

Just how the reusability test went was not apparent immediately
after liftoff. But company representatives would not be shocked
or saddened if something went wrong, having pegged the endeavor's
odds of success at less than 50 percent in the days leading up to
launch.

"The entire recovery of the first stage is entirely
experimental," Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president of
mission assurance, told reporters Sunday (April 13). "It has
nothing to do with the primary mission here."

Today's launch initiates the third of 12 official supply missions
that California-based SpaceX will fly to the space station for
NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.

Dragon is carrying some interesting cargo on this run. For
example, it will deliver legs for NASA's humanoid robot
Robonaut 2, which is designed to help astronauts perform
menial tasks in space. Robonaut 2 will get to test out its new
9-foot-long (2.7 m) legs for the first time in June, NASA
officials have said.

Dragon is also toting a NASA laser-communication experiment
called OPALS (Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science), as well as
an experiment called Veg-01 that will help researchers learn more
about growing food in space.

A tiny NASA satellite called PhoneSat 2.5 also hitched a ride on
Dragon today. As its name suggests, PhoneSat 2.5 is based on
commercial smartphone technology. The idea is to demonstrate just
how well spacecraft made with inexpensive, off-the-shelf
electronics can perform in space, agency officials have
said.

Today's liftoff was originally slated to occur on March 13, but
SpaceX pushed it out by about two weeks to tie up a few loose
ends. The launch was delayed again when a fire damaged a
ground-based radar system used to track liftoffs from Cape
Canaveral. And a planned Monday (April 14) launch was scrubbed
due to a helium leak on the Falcon 9's first stage.

SpaceX isn't the only company flying cargo to the International
Space Station for NASA. Virginia-based Orbital Sciences holds a
$1.9 billion deal to make eight such flights using its
Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. The first of these
missions blasted off in January.